After the Adventure
by M.A.D1
Summary: Several months after his adventure in Dracula's castle, Souma thinks about what happened and how his life has changed. *MAJOR ARIA OF SORROW SPOILERS*


WARNING: This fic contains GARGANTUAN SPOILERS, including THE MAJOR SPOILER for Aria of Sorrow! If you have not played through the game yet and seen the good ending, for the love of dear god DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. If you do, you will deprive yourself of the surprise of one of the coolest game plot twists ever! YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED!  
  
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Hi there. I'm Souma Kurusu, age 18 years. Well, almost 19 now, actually. I'm just a normal high school student living in Japan. I so look a bit unusual, with my silver hair and red eyes, but that's no problem, because for some reason the girls all seem to like it. I do things any normal high school student does. I go to movies, play video games, hang out with my friends, even study for those godforsaken college entrance exams.  
  
Yup, I'm as normal as any other person harboring the power and spirit of one of the Earth's most ultimate evils can be.  
  
You see, within me lies the dark power of Dracula himself.  
  
I didn't know that this is what I was fated to be. For the last 18 or so years of my life, I lived a very unremarkable existance. All that changed several months ago, with the first full solar eclipse of the new millenium. I went to my dear friend Mina Hakuba's shrine to see it, as the place has an extraordinary view. But as I took that last step through the torii, the world around me changed...  
  
To make a long story short, I woke up in Dracula's castle and met a strange guy named Genya Arikado. As we were attacked by monsters, he set up a barrier that would protect Mina as long as it held out. I was quite distraught, obviously, but he told me I had to make it to the throne room by all means possble if I ever wanted to get myself and Mina back home safely. What other choice did I have?  
  
It turned out that the castle and its evil had been sealed within the previous eclipse of 1999, but prophecy revealed that its power would set it free again in this year, 2035, during the next eclipse to come. The forces at work knew what I was, and they brought me and Mina there to lead me to my supposed destiny. Others had come, too, but of their own will, for their own purposes.  
  
And then there was Graham. He was the leader of some batshit-crazy cult obsessed with Dracula. From what Youko told me, he was there trying to assume Dracula's power, as prophesized. Once he did that, he and all his followers would rule and subdue the earth. He firmly believed that becoming Dracula was his destiny, and sacrificed his life and his sanity for that cause, letting darkness overtake him. (Just more proof of how harmful cults are, I guess.)  
  
But then, when all of that happened, when I defeated Graham, who had willingly allowed the evil energy to transform him... the castle revealed its true nature to me, and I learned that it had been my destiny since the beginning to assume this role, to be the vessel of Dracula's power.   
  
There, I met Arikado again. He knew it was going to happen all along. He has tried his best to prevent it, but when he realized that it was inevitable, he came to aid me and set me upon the right path. He told me if I did not set out to extinguish the source of the castle's chaotic energy flowing into me, then my spirit would be overtaken by the evil will, and I would truly become a new Dracula, to once again bring untold atrocities and despair to the earth.  
  
And yet, I could not... I simply could not let the evil of Dracula destroy the heart of myself. I was still Souma Kurusu. I could not let my very being be eaten away, to be transformed, and again plunge the earth into darkness. With the help of my friends, I defeated the evil energy of the castle that threatened to consume me whole.  
  
From there, my life continues as a normal human. But, knowing now what I do, nothing can ever be the same.  
  
I still feel a sense of evil within me. You see, darkness is inside each and every one of us, and no matter what we do, we cannot fully rid ourselves of it. Even those who preach that they are purely virtuous channel their own evil in other ways - such as the hate and persecution of those who are not. I am no different from any other human being, in this respect.   
  
Though I defeated the overwhelming evil of Dracula's castle, I still feel the innate darkness of humanity inside me. It tempts me constantly, reminding me of the powers and abilities I have, that I could use them for great means... I could easily control and hurt others, or manipulate thoughts and emotions to my own end... I could transform into a demon and crush all those who I disliked or disapproved of... to steal the souls of people, and use their talents for my own purposes... I could possibly even rule the world if I so desired, to plunge the land into an eternal night, with the souls of myriad evils at my call.  
  
What is it, then, that keeps the evil within me in check?  
  
My friends. The best people in the world.  
  
I met some of my best friends during my time in Dracula's castle. I thank the Powers That Be every day for having given me these wonderful companions. Without their assistance during my battle with my inner evil, I would have failed. Before I confronted the blackness of the castle's forces of chaos, I heard them all calling out to me, promising to help me... every time I swung my blade at the core of chaos, their words reverberated through the air... and when I had finally crushed the evil's strength, when I collapsed... I felt myself enveloped by the warmth, hope, kindness, and determination they all held in their hearts... It was the most profound, the most beautiful feeling in the world, that touched me deeply like nothing else ever has...  
  
First off, J. His real name is Julius Belmont, of course, but I still just think of him as J. He's the guy who managed to nail Dracula and seal away the castle back in 1999, but the sheer energy required to complete that task drained him of his memory for years, and he had to return to the castle in order to recover it. He's strong. REALLY strong. He could easily kill me if he wanted to. In fact, he almost did. When he saw that I had the energy of Dracula within me, he was the first to act and try to destroy it by destroying its host - in other words, me! Looking back upon it, I can understand his actions - he DID fight the guy once, and vampire killing is what his family does. Still, he's got a heart of gold, and when he saw that I was fighting against Dracula's energy as well, he went out of his way to help me. Well, I know that if I ever lose it, he'll be the one who'll definitely take me down! At the moment, he's trying to recover his life, getting back in touch with his friends and family. I try my best to help him whenever possible. It's the very least I can do...  
  
And Hammer! He's such a funny guy. I didn't know what to think of him at first - he's a big, scary army type, and very intimidating when you first meet him. He's a great businessman, though, and his supplies were invaluable. When he got back here, he managed to open up a military surplus shop, and it's doing quite well. I think he even managed to bring some of the weaponry from the castle back with him...  
  
Youko... Youko's a very busy woman. She does work for the Church here in Japan, which is a tougher job than it sounds. Her side occupation within the Church heiarchy is investigating paranormal activities, which she is incredibly knowledgable about. Apparently her family has held similar occupations for years, and are considered experts in the field. Though work is Youko's priority, she chats and sends mail to me whenever she gets the time. Like she repeatedly tells me, she thinks of me as some sort of younger brother. I think that's probably a good thing, right? She has also told me that though my powers are dark in origin, I am not necessarily destined to use them for evil means, and prays daily that I will keep upon the right path and help to make this world a better place. "It's like a weapon," she says, "it is not inherently bad, only its user can make it that way." She can put things into words a lot better than I can, that's for sure. It does feel nice and reassuring to have someone as knowledgeable and concerned as her looking out for my welfare.  
  
Then there's Arikado. He still visits the Hakuba shrine regularly. I see him there sometimes when I'm hanging around the place. He and I really don't talk as much as we should, but when we do, he always has good advice for me. I feel like we're connected somehow. I know he has powers of his own; I saw them at work when we were in the castle. It feels like he and I have a LOT in common - like we both share something unique, almost as if our abilities come from the same source. He's never really spoken to me about himself, though Youko tells me he'll divulge his sordid tale to me in full someday when I have a lot of free time and I'm not "preoccupied with my studies." (...Have I EVER been preoccupied with my studies?)  
  
Who else... Oh, Mina! Jeez... I don't know what I would do without her. She's been at my side ever since we were kids. She's kinda shy around others in public, but ever since our adventure, she's always been willing to talk to me about anything and everything. I feel the same way, and whenever I have problems or just want to get a load off my chest, she's the first person I think to go to. I guess... well, ok, I admit, I have a crush on her, OK? I have a suspicion she feels the same way too, because ever since this all happened, we've been closer than ever before. But even these super powers of mine can't make telling her my feelings any less awkward...   
  
And besides them, my friends... when I look around me, and see the smiling faces of passerbys on the street, the gorgeous sight and scent of the sakura in the spring, the light of the sprawling cities at night and the hopes and dreams of all those who live within... I think to myself, why would I want to destroy this beautiful world with such a terrible evil? No, I could never do such a terrible thing. I love this earth, its people, my friends... far too much to ever let the powers I have come to bear ruin it.  
  
I am Souma Kurusu, the bodily vessel of Dracula's power. My destiny is to keep his evil in check for the good of all humanity. Though Dracula being within me was predestined, my ownheart being corrupted was not. I have sworn to never let the evil overcome the true me: a fun, (and attractive!) "normal" high school boy.  
  
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My first, and probably only Castlevania fic for a while. Hope you all like it.  
  
I finished up Aria of Sorrow and was struck by the plight of Souma at the game's end. I though he was cool from the beginning, but he's the inheritant of all of Dracula's powers? And he has to stop their evil from consuming him? He became about five times cooler from there on. ^^  
  
After finishing the game, I couldn't help but think of what sort of life Souma was going to lead after this. How would he deal with what he knew was inside him? What sort of relationships had he formed with the people he met in the castle? I decided to channel these thoughts into a short little one-shot stream-of-conciousness style fic.  
  
For now, I'm back to writing my VF4 fics. Gotta get the VC3/VF4 crossover starter done yet. ^^;  
  
This is just a one-shot epsiode. 


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